...The intensity and accuracy of the scholarship in this monumental effort cannot be praised enough...To give Coltrane his due in book form is to be as painstaking in researching as Coltrane was in practicing. This book honors its subject through such exercise of care.

Two Ways of Bookending John Coltrane
By Norman Weinstein
Published: January 23, 2008

The massive (821 page) The John Coltrane Reference, winner of the 2009 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research Award for Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music, set a new and lofty standard in the study of jazz history with its publication in 2008. Prepared by Coltrane scholars Chris DeVito, Yasuhiro Fujioka, Wolf Schmaler, and David Wild under the editorial supervision of Lewis Porter, the book provides a meticulously detailed and documented day-by-day chronology (1926-1967), an exhaustive performance schedule, and a discography offering full session information from the first year of recordings, 1946, to the last, 1967. It includes appendices listing all film and television appearances, and close to 400 album covers and photos. The book contains a treasure trove of contemporary reviews, news reports and comentary, along with hundreds of reproductions of club advertisements, concert posters, and other documents. It is an essential, indispensable guide to the life and music of John Coltrane..

This portion of wildmusic-jazz.com is dedicated to keeping The John Coltrane Reference current, by compiling updated information, corrections and additions to the published work, and by attempting to track the onslaught of reissues, recompilations, box sets and other issues of the music of Coltrane. Click on the tabs in the blue navigation box to the left to explore the site.

***NEW***

The John Coltrane Reference has until now only been available in hardback. However, the continued interest in this essential work has convinced Routledge (our publisher) to release the work in paperback and e-reader formats. Click here for more information.

The John Coltrane Reference was chosen as The BBC's Jazz Book of the Year for 2008.

"This opus is clearly the culmination of decades of dedicated and diligent resesarch and is wholly worthy of its illustrious subject. No serious collector of jazz literature can afford to be without it." Bob Weir, Names & Numbers, Issue 46, July 2008

For additional information about The John Coltrane Reference or this website, contact Dave Wild.

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contents of this site are based on The Recordings of John Coltrane: A Discography,
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